


Broken Mirror

by kikanawj



Series: Tim Drake (and the greater DCU) [6]
Category: DCU, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Families of Choice, Found Family, Gen, Kon-El | Conner Kent-centric, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sequel, Superfamily (DCU), mentioned Claustrophobia, my canon now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29446638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikanawj/pseuds/kikanawj
Summary: A sequel to "Kon's (Ever-Growing) Super Family."Kon's got a bigger family these days. Jon and his parents live with Ma, Pa, and him at the Kent Farm. Kara visits. And even Clark is coming around more often. Thing are pretty good. Can you really have too much of a good thing? Even when that thing is family?On a mission to respond to a natural disaster, Kon runs across a dark secret.Excerpt:"“Ah! No- no-no- goddamn you!”“Ha, suck it!”“Fucking blue shells.”“You said a bad word.”“Oh, screw you, half-pint, that race was mine. I’ve been robbed.”“You blue-shelled me the last two games.”“Yes, but that was good strategy.”Kon laughed. Kara stuck her tongue out at him. Jon rolled his eyes at the two of them. He leaned over and pressed the buttons on their controllers to skip past the credits.“The tournament’s not over yet,” Jon told them as the next race loaded.“Hey-” Kara grabbed up her controller again, “Okay, I guess we’re just going then.”Kon laughed, “Jon gets impatient.”“I don’t!” Jon huffed, “You guys just take forever.”"
Relationships: Kon-El | Conner Kent & Clark Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Jonathan Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Jonathan Kent & Kara Zor-El, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Kara Zor-El, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Lois Lane, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Ma Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Pa Kent, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Series: Tim Drake (and the greater DCU) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759369
Comments: 110
Kudos: 118





	1. Troubled Road

“Ah! No- no-no- god _ damn _ you!”

“Ha, suck it!”

“Fucking blue shells.”

“You said a bad word.”

“Oh, screw you, half-pint, that race was mine. I’ve been robbed.”

“You blue-shelled me the last two games.”

“Yes, but  _ that _ was good strategy.”

Kon laughed. Kara stuck her tongue out at him. Jon rolled his eyes at the two of them. He leaned over and pressed the buttons on their controllers to skip past the credits.

“The tournament’s not over yet,” Jon told them as the next race loaded.

“Hey-” Kara grabbed up her controller again, “Okay, I guess we’re just going then.”

Kon laughed, “Jon gets impatient.”

“I don’t!” Jon huffed, “You guys just take forever.”

It was a mostly quiet night on the Kent farm. Kara was visiting for their becoming-traditional gaming night. Normally it was just Kon and Jon. Sometimes they could rope Lois or Clark into a match or two. 

Kon enjoyed playing. It wasn’t nearly as hectic as the impromptu video game tournaments at Titan’s Tower. He wasn’t as good as Jon, but he didn’t mind. The odd burst of superspeed here or there helped him keep up. And most of the time Jon didn’t catch him doing it.

“Hey!” Jon huffed as Kara’s car ran him off the course.

“Eat my dust!” Kara crowed.

Kon was beginning to get a feel for how competitive Kara was. She didn’t give any quarter. It was almost like he was gunning for third, when the three of them played. 

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Kon glanced and saw Lois standing in the doorway, her hips cocked to one side.

“Hey, guys, it’s almost curfew.” She told them.

“Okay,” Jon said, eyes still glued to the screen.

“This is the last race in the set,” Kon told her. “It won’t even take five minutes.”

“Alright,” Lois smiled at them. “But don’t forget you have to clean the room once you're done.”

“Okay, mom,” Jon nodded, still not looking at her.

Kon gave her a nod and Lois shook her head, but smiled. She left them to it.

Kara and Jon were practically touching the TV with their noses with how far forward they were leaning. Kon broke through the last item box and grinned as he saw the blue shell appear on his bar.

“Kon- I swear to Rao- If you blue shell me-” Kara said through her teeth.

Before Kon could fire the item, his phone went off. It blared out a special alarm- not his ringtone, or text alerts. It was the Titan’s emergency signal.

Kon dropped his controller. He pulled out his phone and opened the alert. A typhoon had made landfall causing massive flooding and mudslides in East Asia- local governments were calling for aid- the Justice League and Titans were mobilizing a joint response. Kon had a set of coordinates and a small debriefing packet linked to him.

Kara’s phone went off next to him. She swore as she abandoned the game to check it.

They both looked up at each other.

“Sorry, Jon, we have to go-” Kon told him as he stood.

“Why? What’s-”

“Emergency, sorry,” Kara sped out of the house.

Kon flew up to his room, changing into his suit and jacket at superspeed. He took off out of his window. He poured on the speed, double checking his assigned coordinates. He reviewed the packet- it was mostly a cheat-sheet of how to say important phrases in the local languages. Kon recognized the Mandarin Chinese, Cadmus had included it in his psychic education. Hopefully whoever had assigned him his area had taken that into account.

Kon descended through the storm. The wind whipped at him, he would’ve been soaked through in an instant without his TTK shield. Kon spotted a gathering of emergency vehicles with their blinking lights. He landed and was waved over to the assembled command area.

“Where do you need me?” Kon asked.

The emergency workers pointed westward. One of them spoke above the roaring wind.

“The bridge collapsed. The other evacuation route is buried under a landslide. Can you ferry people across the bridge?”

Kon nodded and gave a thumbs up, “I can do that.”

Kon flew in the direction he was pointed. He spotted the bridge- it was snapped practically in half with debris from the river below it. Whole trees and boulders had been washed downstream and through the bridge.

Kon heard people shouting as they spotted him. They were yelling for help- some of them were gesturing frantically at the collapsed bridge. Kon swept the area with his thermal vision- there were people trapped in the wreckage of the bridge.

Kon worked quickly to free them. He used his TTK to stabilize what he could as he pried the wreckage apart to get to the people. He flew them to the safer side of the river, several of them were very injured- Kon couldn’t tell if any of them were in critical condition, but he had to leave them there.  Kon flew back to the bridge to double and triple check that he had grabbed everyone who had been trapped in the debris. He didn’t see anyone else with his thermal vision and he couldn’t hear any specific heartbeats coming from the wreckage. Kon surveyed the crowd on the far bank. It was easily hundreds of people, animals, cars, and carts. 

Kon dove down to the larger pieces of the bridge. He touched them, encased them with his TTK and lifted them from the river. He flew them up to where the bridge had once been and set them in place to make a path that was wide enough for a cart.

He yelled over the wind and rain, “I’m holding it! You can cross!”

He heard the crowd yelling and saw them start to move towards the bridge. He held the pieces steady as they crossed over him. He kept an eye on the river in front of him, wary of more large debris.

Someone leaned over the side of the make-shift bridge and called over to him. Kon adjusted his hearing to make out what they were saying.

“Can you hold it for cars?! Are cars too heavy?!”

Kon nodded, “Cars are fine, just be careful! It’s slippery!”

“Okay! Thank you!”

Kon held the bridge. Several times a large tree or group of trees came rushing down the river towards him. He managed to catch them, kicking out with his feet and encasing them in more TTK. He maneuvered them to the sides of the river, keeping them from striking the bridge and also from continuing down stream.

It took two hours to evacuate the crowd.

The last people across called over to him once they were clear. Kon moved the bridge pieces to the bank. He flew back to check on the injured people, but they were gone. The last evacuees told him they’d been picked up by others who had crossed first.

Kon waved off the thanks the people called after him and flew back to the emergency vehicle cluster. They spotted him and waved him over.

“You okay?” One of the workers asked him, offering a thermos. 

“Thank you,” Kon accepted it and took a swig. The warm, rich tea was very welcome. “I’m fine- where do you need me next?”


	2. Damn

The emergency workers debated where to send him next. Kon took the time to stretch out his arms- holding that bridge for that long hadn’t been difficult. But he didn't want the strain of holding one position for so long to catch up to him.

Someone shouted from one of the vehicles and came running.

“The dam! We’re getting an alert from the dam! I can’t get them over the phone!”

“I could go see what’s wrong.” Kon volunteered.

The workers talked it over and gave him the okay. They pulled out a map, three people holding it steady in the wind. They showed him where they were and where the dam was, as well as where the control tower stood.

“That dam is keeping this whole valley safe.” They told him, “If it goes, everyone in this town and the next ten downstream go with it.”

Kon took off. He was able to find the dam easily enough- it was huge. And almost bursting at the seams. Kon could hear the alarms blaring as he approached. He touched down outside of the control tower, surprising the man standing outside. The man jumped and dropped the phone he had been holding up. Probably trying to get service somehow.

“Ah!” The man squinted at Kon, looking at his chest, “Superman?”

“Superboy,” Kon corrected him, “I’m here to help- what’s going on?”

The man waved him inside the building. Several other people were inside, all of them frantically tapping away at cellphones or trying to adjust the settings on radios.

“We need to open the secondary spillways. But we can’t get a signal out to anyone. We don’t know if the surrounding areas have been evacuated.”

“I can carry the message- and I can also check the areas.” Kon told him.

“Here-” A woman waved him over to a map on the wall. She pointed out the district in question. “It’s primarily an industrial and business district. It should have been evacuated yesterday before the typhoon made landfall, but we don’t know for sure.”

“How much longer can you wait before opening the secondary spillways?”

The workers all looked at each other, their faces grim.

“Twenty minutes. At most.”

“I’ll just go straight there- I can check it faster on my own.” Kon told them. “Don’t wait for me to come back- if you need to open them, open them. I can get myself clear.”

They all nodded.

“Thank you-”

Kon sped out of the room. He flew to the district, thermal vision scanning as fast as he could. He found a couple of squatters in one warehouse and flew them out of the danger zone. He left them further into the city without an explanation- there wasn’t time. He resumed his search- the district was huge, filled with warehouses and towering office buildings. Kon finished his first pass and went back for a second. He checked his phone’s clock. He had thirteen more minutes at most. 

Kon spent more time on his second pass checking for basements and sub-floors. A few of the buildings had them, and the surrounding earth made his thermal vision less reliable. He found a couple more people, some more squatters, a few opportunistic thieves. He grabbed them all and evacuated them without warning.

He checked his phone again. Six minutes.

Kon started a third pass, this time trying to use his super-hearing to pick out any heartbeats. It was difficult to filter past the wind and rain and all the rattling doors and windows. He heard a lot of small and rapid heartbeats- probably rodents or birds. He double checked them anyway. 

Just as he was thinking he should start to back up and get clear he heard it- a heartbeat. Slow, bigger than the rodents. Kon zeroed in on it- it was coming from a basement of a warehouse. 

Kon shoved the doors of the warehouse open and tried to find a basement access. There didn't seem to be one- but he could still hear the heartbeat. Maybe it was in a sewer below the building? Definitely not a good place to be when the spillway flooded.

Kon placed his hand on the floor of the warehouse and used his TTK to slice out a chunk. He threw it aside. There- there was a room underneath. Kon jumped in and looked around. It definitely wasn't a sewer.

No, it looked like a lab- or an assembly room? There was lots of equipment around, but Kon didn't recognize any of it. He focused in on the heartbeat again. It was still coming from below.

He looked around and found a stairwell that went downwards. He raced down it, checking his phone again.

Two minutes left. Maybe.

Kon followed the stairs down four flights. It was the deepest basement he’d seen in the whole district. The heartbeat was coming from his right now. Kon didn’t like how slow it sounded, almost like a sleeping heart rate. But it was getting slower.

Kon busted his way through several doors. There were offices down here, and more lab spaces. Kon took a deep breath. Labs usually freaked him out. He didn’t like being reminded of his early Cadmus days. It helped that nothing was on, the power to the whole basement seemed to be out, there wasn’t even the sound of power running through the walls.

Kon came to a final door- the heartbeat was for sure on the other side. But the door itself gave him pause. It wasn’t a hazmat lab style door, or like the other general office ones he’d passed. This was a reinforced bolted vault door. With someone on the other side.

Kon tried to peer through it with his thermal vision, but he didn’t get anything. Not even a cold room beyond. Whatever the door and the wall it was attached to were made out of, Kon couldn’t see past it.

Kon swallowed roughly. He was getting a bad feeling about this-

Kon checked his phone. He was out of time. 

“Hey! If you can hear me- stand back!” Kon yelled. He grabbed the door and pulled. It screeched awfully as he ripped it from its hinges. He tossed it aside and looked into the room beyond.

“Oh- _fuck_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	3. Sun

Kon felt frozen to the spot. He blinked to try to clear his vision, but the dark room in front of him remained. It was like something out of his nightmares. Like something out of his memories.

There was a pod. A pod big enough for a person. The glass was fogged over but Kon could see a silhouette inside, floating in the drink. 

Kon could feel his breaths coming in rapidly. He wanted to run. He wanted to fly out of this creepy basement and put half the globe between it and him. He clenched his hands into fists.

The heartbeat. It was coming from the person inside of the pod. It was getting slower- weaker. 

Kon took a stuttering step forward. He wrenched his gaze away from the pod. He looked around the room. There was other equipment- equipment he recognized. Ventilators and monitors and filters and pumps. None of it was on. There was no power in this room either.

Kon knew he could hold his breath for about ten minutes if he was really pressed to do it. He learned that from the testing at Cadmus. Ten minutes and then he started to run into oxygen deprivation. How long had the power been out?

The heart beats were slowing down.

Kon shook himself and forced himself into the room. He rushed to the pod, grabbed the lid and ripped it off. He tipped it and spilled the liquid out. The person came spilling out with it. 

It was hard to tell in the darkness, but even so, Kon had a pretty good idea what the person looked like. They had the same build.

Kon grabbed them and turned them over, leaned them forward. Hopefully helping them expel any liquid from their lungs. They weren’t breathing. Kon was mentally going over the checklist in his head for CPR- the victim had a pulse but was not breathing so he should start with rescue breaths-

The ground rumbled under them. Kon was out of time, the spillway was open.

“Fuckin’ fuck-!” 

Kon grabbed the person and encased them with his TTK. He took them out of the vault room and then straight up through the basement ceilings. He cleared the hole in the warehouse floor just as the wave of water reached them.

Kon hadn’t braced for the right amount of force- it was like getting hit by a mountain. He was slammed through several walls before he could get his bearings. He took off; gaining as much altitude as he could. The gale-force winds shoved him around, but it was better than the wall of water.

Kon pinged his comm as he tried to figure out where he was- the clouds were so low hanging it was hard to see any landmarks around him.

“Superboy to Titans- Superboy to anyone!”

There was no response, just a hum of static over the line.

“Okay, okay, calm down-” Kon told himself. “They opened the spillway- the dam’s releasing pressure. So that’s okay for now. Think- think- Somewhere to- somewhere to land? Start rescue breathing? Or- no- sunlight? Would that be better!?  _ Fuck! _ ”

Kon knew he was panicking. Knew he should just pick something- anything would be better than just floating in the air letting the wind push him around.

“Fuck it- Sun. Sunlight.”

Kon soared upward. He pushed through the raging typhoon and broke free into the stratosphere. He gasped as the sunlight hit him. He could feel it buoying him, filling him with strength.

Kon turned to face the person he was holding. He felt his chest squeeze tightly. It was like looking in a mirror.

They had his face, his build, his hair. Although the hair was shorter than how Kon kept his now. Kon watched their face as they bathed in the sunlight. At first there was no change. But after a minute, just as he was starting to consider going back down and finding a spot to lay them and start CPR, he saw movement.

The corner of their mouth twitched. And their eyes began to shift under their eyelids.

“Okay, okay,” Kon said softly, “You’re okay. C’mon, just breathe.”

They stilled for a moment- Kon squeezed their arms gently.

“C’mon, breathe-”

They spasmed and coughed. Kon shifted his hold on them as they retched and spat, liquid falling from their mouth. And finally, finally- they inhaled. And then exhaled. And inhaled again.

“Easy, easy, just like that,” Kon spoke to them. 

They gasped. Kon started flying them towards an edge the storm. The air was pretty thin up above, he knew he should get them to lower elevations as soon as he could.

The person spasmed again, this time raising their arms and pulling against Kon’s grip.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay. You’re okay. I’m holding us up right now- you don’t want me to let go.”

Their head came up, eyes opening for the first time. Kon stared at the stranger with his face and they stared back. Kon blinked. The eyes weren’t a perfect match. His own were steel grey with just the barest hints of blue. The person’s were shockingly blue- almost a match for the sky around them. And their sclera were pitch black.

“Uh, hi,” Kon said, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

The person blinked at him, still taking heavy breaths.

“I’m Kon.” Kon said, “Uh, do you have a name?”

The person coughed and clenched their teeth together. They made a noise in their throat, almost a growl, and then coughed again. They opened their mouth and made another noise. Just a random syllable. They frowned.

“Oh,” Kon tried to stay calm, “Can you understand me?”

“...eeee…” The person mimicked. “...m- mmeeeee….”

“That’s okay,” Kon said, more to himself, “That just….complicates things. I guess you didn’t get the psychic teachers, huh?”

The person reached for him, bringing their hand up to touch Kon’s face. Kon let them, they seemed interested in his eyes especially.

“Mine are different from yours, huh? I’m not a reflection on the glass of your pod.” Kon said. “Is this the first time you’ve been out of it? Hell of a view, huh?”

Kon tilted his head towards the sun and the sky around them. The person followed the gesture, looking all around. They twisted around and Kon moved so that they could see easier.

“Eeee! Eeee!” They pointed to the sun and then looked back at Kon. Kon nodded.

“I see it. Sun. It’s the sun.”

“Un.” They repeated. “S- sh- sun.”

“Yeah, sun.” Kon smiled at them.

“Sun,” They repeated. They returned the smile hesitantly, touching their face to feel the corner of their mouth turn.

Kon could feel the tightness in his chest ache. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pulling from multiple iterations of Match, as well as being my own canon, but the physical appearance is mostly from Young Justice. I just love the dark sclera eyes.


	4. Name Game

Kon’s comm pinged in his ear. “Superboy, do you copy? What’s wrong? Why are you above the storm?”

“I’m okay, Cy,” Kon responded, “I just- I found someone. And I need to- someone else needs to cover my area.”

“We don’t have anyone else, we’re scrambling everyone we can.” Cyborg responded. “Who’s with you?”

Kon hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to put it. “Um, I sort of found another me? Another clone- another Superboy.”

“... _what?!_ ”

The other clone was looking at him, staring at the ear that had Kon’s comm in it. They reached for it and Kon gently intercepted their hand.

“They’re pretty non-verbal. I think this is their first day out of the pod.” Kon relayed. “I can’t just ditch them somewhere.”

Cyborg sighed over the line. “No, no you can’t. Are you gonna bring them to the Tower?”

“It’s as good a place as any.” Kon said. “It might take awhile- I don’t want to scare them by flying too fast.”

“I’ll try to see about getting your area covered.”

“Thanks, Cy.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you when you get here.”

Kon would fly them to San Francisco via the pacific. It was the shortest route from the typhoon, and also it helped that he could avoid any landmass until they were there. He wasn’t sure how the other clone would react to a lot of people. If this was their first time awake, and they hadn’t had the psychic instructions Kon had received from Cadmus- then there was no telling what they would do. Mentally, they were sort of a newborn. 

It was also possible that they just hadn’t been given knowledge of any language. It would make a bit of sense- without knowing how to speak or read or understand anyone, they would be totally dependent on the lab to support them. Maybe Lex had learned from Kon’s own escape.

Kon could feel himself getting mad just thinking Lex’s name. He tried to pull away from that train of thought. He didn’t want to scare his passenger.

Kon sighed, “We need to get you a name.”

The other clone smiled at him. “-Aim.” They mimicked. They turned and pointed at the sun, “Sun-sun.”

Kon nodded, “Yes, the sun. Okay, um,” Kon pointed to himself, “Kon. I’m Kon.”

The clone blinked at him. They pointed at Kon’s chest, “...on. Ch- K- Chon. K-awn.”

Kon nodded, “You got it. Kon.”

“Kon,” They repeated and pointed with more confidence. “Kon.”

Kon smiled, “That’s right.” He pointed as he spoke, “Kon. Sun. Kon. Sun.”

The clone mimicked him, pointed as they spoke, “Kon, sun, Kon, sun.”

“Kon, sun-” Kon pointed at the clone, and opened his mouth but didn’t make a noise.

The clone pointed at themself and opened their mouth as well. “...Kon?”

“That would get very confusing,” Kon laughed. “Okay, I guess I’m naming you, no pressure.”

The clone seemed confused. They pointed at the sun and then Kon and then themself and frowned. 

And then they were plummeting.

“Ah- shit-shit-!” Kon kept his grip on their arms. The clone was flying them downwards- but from the almost panicked expression on their face, they weren’t doing it on purpose.

“Hey- it's okay, it’s okay- Just let me stabilize us-” Kon tried to reassure them. He pulled and tried to fight against their flying. He slowed them down, but they were still moving towards the storm clouds below.

“I need you to relax- look at me, look and Kon. Kon- remember? That’s me. Look at me- match my breathing,” Kon took several exaggerated breaths. The clone looked at him and began to copy. Breathing in and out slowly.

“We’re fine, we’re fine, just keep matching me.” Kon pulled against the descent. They were only a few hundred feet above the storm.

“-atch ‘eee,” They mimicked.

“Match me, yes,” Kon continued his exaggerated breathing.

The clone breathed with him and just as quickly as it had started, the downwards momentum stopped. Kon yanked them up a couple hundred feet before leveling out. 

“Oh, thank god,” Kon sighed.

“M- m- atch ‘ee,” The clone repeated, looking down at the clouds below them.

“You got to let me steer us, okay?” Kon pulled them tighter against him, sliding an arm around their back, “I know it’s hard to control at first. But you do not want to take a dip into a typhoon.”

“Match ‘ee?” The clone pointed to themself.

Kon considered it as he added on more speed. He really wanted to get clear of the storm.

“Matchy?” Kon said aloud. “Not really a name- oh, how about Matty?”

“Matchy?” The clone pointed to themself again.

“Matty,” Kon emphasized as he also pointed. “Kon. Sun. Matty.”

“Matty.” Matty copied. They repeated it several times. Kon mimicked it back to them. Matty smiled.

“Hi, Matty,” Kon squeezed them gently- almost giving them a side hug, “Welcome to the world.”


	5. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick note- my main influence for Cyborg is the animated Teen Titans. That's why I refer to him as Cyborg or Cy mainly. Certain characters will call him Vic or Victor. But I see him using his hero name and civilian name pretty interchangeably along with all his nicknames when not out in the field.

Kon got Matty to Titan’s Tower without much issue. There were a few more instances of Matty’s flight kicking in unexpectedly. But none of those times lasted long enough to be an issue. And Matty was quick to start taking deep breaths whenever it happened. They were definitely a quick study. Which led Kon to think Matty’s intelligence was probably more advanced than a newborn’s, they were just lacking information.

Matty was amazed by San Fran. Their head was on a swivel, drinking in the sites as Kon guided them to the Tower’s roof. Matty pointed to several of the taller buildings, especially the ones that were lit up.

“Sun. Sun. Sun!”

Kon didn’t know if stopping to correct them would help. He just focused on getting to the Tower.

Once on the tower roof, Kon set them both down gently. Matty seemed unsure about standing. They kept picking up one foot and then the other, frowning at the roof they were standing on.

“I guess standing feels weird if you’ve only ever been floating in a pod or flying.” Kon reasoned. “It’s okay. Look at me.” Kon pointed to his feet and took a few steps forward and back while Matty watched. “It’s fine.”

Matty copied him. Their expression was still uncertain, but they seemed okay enough to follow Kon’s lead.

“C’mon, let’s get you inside. I think we both could use a shower and some warm clothes.”

Kon led Matty into the tower. They seemed wary of the building, eyeing the ceilings and walls with a frown. Kon kept up a stream of reassurances.

“I know, I don’t like small spaces either. You’re safe, though. This is Titan’s Tower. No one here is gonna lock you up or shove you in a pod. C’mon, the communal showers are spacier than the hallways.”

Kon’s comm pinged again. “What’s the situation?”

“I’m gonna get them cleaned up first. You still busy coordinating the rescues?”

“Yeah, I’ll be at the computer.” Cyborg responded, “Let me know if you need help.”

“I will.”

Matty’s attention had zeroed in on the comm in Kon’s ear, but then their head turned, eyes searching. Kon saw them look at the walls and find the direction of the main computer room. Okay, Kon thought, so they can see through walls to some extent.

“That was Cyborg,” Kon told them. “He’s a friend.”

Matty pointed where they were looking, “Zy-bor?”

“Cyborg,” Kon repeated. “I’ll introduce you to him properly once we’ve showered and changed.”

Matty didn’t resist Kon leading them in the right direction, but kept their gaze fixated on Cyborg’s position. Kon got them both into the communal showers. Matty was good about following his lead, copying his actions. Kon had to help them get out of the solar suit they were dressed in- he had to rip it a bit as it didn’t have any zippers or seams. But for the most part Matty could monkey-see/monkey-do their way through the shower.

Kon got them both new clothes out of his locker. They were the same size after all, so he knew it would all fit. Matty spent a good deal of time just feeling the sweatshirt material. They ran their hands over the cloth, a smile slowly forming on their face.

“Soft,” Kon said as he touched his own clothing.

“Sof,” Matty parroted. “Sof-ttt.”

“Want to go see Cyborg now?” Kon asked.

Matty looked up and then scanned the room around them. They pointed in the direction of the computer room, “Zy-bor-G.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Kon held out his hand and Matty took it.

Matty seemed a little confused with the path they were taking. They kept pointing and repeating ‘Zy-borg’ whenever Kon would take a turn or go down a hallway that wasn’t directly aligned with the straight line towards the computer room. Kon wasn’t quite sure how to begin explaining that they couldn’t just go through the walls to get to where they were going. Especially because they _could_ physically.

“Here,” Kon said as he finally stepped into the computer room, “See? There’s Cyborg.”

Cyborg waved at them from the main computer. Kon saw him dim the display and silence the speakers. Good, there would be less stimuli to confuse Matty.

“Hi,” Cyborg turned to face them. “Who’ve we got here?”

Kon pulled Matty into the room proper. He pointed as he introduced. “Matty. This is Cyborg. Cyborg, Matty.”

Matty pointed at Cyborg, “Zy-borg.”

“Close enough,” Cy grinned, “It’s nice to meet you, Matty.”

Matty pointed at Kon, “Kon.”

“Yep, that's Kon.” Cy nodded. “You’re doing pretty good for day one of consciousness.”

Matty held out his arm to Cyborg, “Soft.”

Cy looked to Kon.

“Their shirt. It’s soft.” Kon reached over and put his hand on Matty’s sleeve, “Soft.”

Cy copied him and touched Matty’s sleeve, “Yeah, I guess that would be pretty soft.”

Matty smiled. He pointed to Cyborg’s electric eye, “Sun.”

“Eh-” Kon hesitated, “Uh, no. That’s not the sun. Cy’s eye is giving off light. Light.”

Cyborg laughed, “I guess he’s got a ways to go still.”

“They,” Kon corrected, “Or at least, I think they/them would be better until we can get to a point where we can ask them.”

“Okay,” Cy nodded. “So, what are you two gonna do now?”

“I have no idea.” Kon sighed.

Matty pointed to Cy’s eye again, “Lie. Lie-ttt.”

“Light,” Kon repeated for them.

Kon ended up spending the next few hours expanding Matty’s vocabulary. They were a  _ very _ quick study. They learned the names of things pretty easily and adjectives too. Verbs and sentence structure seemed a little too much still, but Matty seemed to pick up inflection almost instantly. They would inflect a word as a question while pointing and then repeat the answer given without the questioning tone.

Cyborg and Kon spoke a little about some possible next steps. Matty obviously needed instruction, not just about speech and language but everything. Cyborg pointed out that they should get Matty’s mind checked for programming, just to be safe. Kon agreed. He remembered what it was like to have Cadmus and Lex take over with just a phrase or a certain frequency. He couldn’t-  _ wouldn’t _ let that happen to Matty.

“I’ll tag J’onn, Megan, or Raven to come to the tower at their next availability.” Cy told him as he continued to work the comms. “We’re rotating in our second wave of responders to the typhoon in the next hour or so.”

“Sorry about ditching,” Kon said.

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Cy shrugged, “I think you made the right call. Not even Flash can be in two places at once.”

Matty pulled on Kon’s hand and pointed at their head. “Soft.”

“Soft?” Kon asked them.

Matty took Kon’s hand and put it against their hair. “Soft,” They repeated as they moved Kon’s hand back and forth.

“Yeah, soft,” Kon ran his hand through Matty’s hair. Matty closed their eyes and leaned into the touch.

“Yeah,” Cy grinned at him, “Definitely the right call.”


	6. Introductions(First Impressions)

The typhoon mission continued late into the next morning. The storm was so massive that the League and the Titans were spread thin to cover the most impacted areas. Kon helped Cyborg run comms and coordinate the deployments. Eventually people started heading back to the Tower. Either because they'd been relieved at their assigned areas, or because they'd been sent back due to injuries.

Kon introduced Matty to each Titan as they came back to the Tower. He explained to each of them as they arrived.

"This is Matty. I think they're a clone like me. I found them in an abandoned lab in the area I was helping evacuate. Matty doesn't speak any language, but they're picking up words and names." 

Matty seemed fascinated by the different Titans. They would repeat their names until they got them right. A few of the Titans- Starfire, Garth, and Cassie- tried to initiate a physical greeting. 

Garth offered his hand, and with Kon's help demonstrating, showed Matty how to clasp forearms. He also taught them how to say hello in Atlantean. 

"Khaíre."

"Kai-ear-ay?"

"Khaíre."

Cassie tried for a handshake and ended up getting a forearm grab. She laughed and figured it wouldn't be worth the effort or confusion to try for a shake instead.

Starfire offered a hug. Which, once Matty tried it, became their favorite new thing. 

Matty hung around Kon. They seemed content to just stand next to him for hours on end. Matty could hear the comms- they would react whenever a new voice came through. But they didn't seem too interested in watching the computer as Cyborg and Kon worked.

Occasionally Matty would pull on Kon's hand for his attention. They would point to an object and ask for a word for it. Or Matty would say "Hug," and hold their arms out.

Kon obliged them every time. He kept a hold of Matty's hand or held them in a side hug, always maintaining a point of contact. 

Matty didn't initiate with any of the other Titans. They would respond if engaged, mimicking and parroting what was said. But it was clear that Matty had imprinted on Kon first and foremost.

Matty also didn't seem to understand food. Which made an amount of sense, it's not like they'd been given sandwiches in the pod. Kon and Cyborg and the other Titans ate and offered Matty bites of the things off their plates. Matty would try what they offered, but was obviously not a fan. They didn't go back for a second bite of anything and shied away if one was offered.

Drinks went a bit better. Matty didn't refuse water, and even seemed to like Cassie's protein shake. Kon figured a liquid diet might be the way to go for Matty, at least until they could explain the whole process better.

The last of the Titans came back in the T-ship. Megan, Raven, Garfield, and Jaime landed, made their way into the Tower, and headed to the medbay. 

Garfield had a broken leg. Apparently he'd got caught in a mudslide and slammed around before he could escape. He had managed to get the people he was escorting past the slide, but his injury had him sidelined afterwards. He had waited for a few hours until everyone else was relieved to take the T-ship back to San Fran.

Kon watched Matty track them through the walls. Matty seemed upset by the change in routine. Everyone else had come in and reported to the computer room to debrief with Cyborg when they had arrived.

Matty pointed in the direction of the medbay and pulled on Kon's hand. 

"Hello? Khaíre? Hello?" Matty said.

"We can say hello after they get Garfield treated." Kon tried to explain. "We have to wait."

Matty pulled on Kon's hand with more force, trying to move him towards the door.

"Matty, no. Stop. Hey, it's okay." Kon opened his arms, "How about a hug instead? Hug?"

Matty moved into the hug, but kept their gaze facing the direction of medbay.

"...stop," Matty muttered under their breath. "...stop him…"

"What?" Kon asked. 

Matty lowered their gaze and tucked their head against Kon's shoulder.

"...stop….stop him...sh- shut din...down…" Matty continued to mumble. "...down...shut down….stop…"

Kon hadn't heard any of the Titans say those phrases to Matty. And Kon certainly hadn't. He inhaled sharply- maybe this  _ wasn't _ Matty's first time out of the pod. But what did that mean?

"Hey, I'm sorry- Matty," Kon squeezed them gently, "No one is going to hurt you, okay? You're safe here. You're safe."

Was that why the lab had been abandoned? Not because of the typhoon- but because someone had decided to shut the place down? How long had Matty been in that pod without the life support functioning? 

Kon knew extended oxygen deprivation could impact memory and brain function. Was that why Matty struggled with language- not because they didn't know any, but because of sustained damage? 

How did brain damage even work in Kryptonians? Kon had never gotten a concussion, and he was sure Clark and Kara were the same. Would the Kryptonian healing factor be able to repair that sort of thing? Kon had no idea.

Cyborg caught Kon's gaze over Matty's head.

"That doesn't sound good." Cyborg commented over Matty's continued mumbling.

Kon shook his head. "I think I misjudged a few things."

Cyborg pinged his comm, "Miss M, Raven, we need you in the computer room."


	7. Further

Raven and M’gann joined them in the computer room. Raven was already wincing by the time she turned the corner.

M’gann gasped, “Oh! There’s two of you? Is this another cross-dimensional thing?”

“No,” Cyborg shook his head, “At least I hope it’s not.”

“We could use your help figuring that out,” Kon squeezed Matty tighter in their hug, “Hey, you wanted to say hello, right?”

Matty turned to look at the new people. Their muttering cut out as they took them in.

“Hi!” M’gann flew over to him, “I’m M’gann, or Megan, or Miss Martian.”

“Megan,” Kon picked and pointed at her. “This is Matty.”

“The name is wrong.” Raven spoke quietly.

“What?” Kon asked her as Matty practiced saying Megan.

“Matty- it feels wrong to them.” Raven clarified. “It’s close, but wrong.”

“See, this is why we called you in,” Cyborg nudged Raven with his hip and she raised an eyebrow at him. “How’s BB?”

“He’ll live,” Raven replied, “He was arguing against a cast. I don’t know why we even try with him, he just shifts out of them anyway.”

“Shouldn’t he not shift while his leg’s broken?” Kon asked.

“He shouldn’t,” Raven rolled her eyes. “But he will. And then he’ll ask me to reset it again.”

Matty pulled on Kon’s hand and pointed to Raven.

“Raven,” Raven told him, “Ray-vin.”

“Raven,” Matty copied.

Raven pointed at Matty, “Matt?”

Matty pouted. 

Cyborg pointed at them, “Marty?”

Matty frowned.

“Mattis?” Raven tried.

Matty looked at Kon, clearly confused. Kon tried to think of another way to prompt them. Raven said Matty was close- but did that mean they knew what their name really was? Or they just knew it sounded similar?

“Martin?” Megan asked.

“Mathew?” Raven tried.

“Mateo?” Cyborg asked.

Matty was staring at them, trying to follow what they were doing, but obviously not catching on.

“Oh, wait-” Kon tried to think, “I got ‘matty’ from something they said- um, they were mimicking something I said….something about matching our breathing…”

Matty turned sharply to Kon. “Ma-tchin’. Ma- match.” They pointed at themself, “ _ Match _ .”

“Match?” Kon asked as he pointed. 

“Match!” Match smiled. They turned to Megan and grabbed her hand. They held it pointing at their chest and said, “Match.”

“Match,” Megan smiled. “You’re Match.”

Cyborg and Raven pointed and said in unison, “Match.”

Match beamed at them.

“So what did you actually call us down here for?” Raven asked.

“I think- I thought at first that this was Match’s first day out of their pod. But now I’m not so sure.” Kon told her, “So if you or Miss M could see if they’ve got older memories? I don’t know if Cadmus taught them like they taught me. It doesn’t seem like Match has any pre-existing language skills, but that could be due to something else.”

“Something else?” Megan asked, “Like amnesia or something?”

“Or brain damage.” Kon shrugged, “When I found their pod it wasn’t hooked up or running- nothing in the whole room was on, not even the ventilators. I don’t know how long they were in there without oxygen.”

Cyborg exhaled sharply, “That’s fucked up. How long can Kryptonians hold their breath?”

“I can go ten minutes. Maybe a full Kryptonian can go longer, but…” Kon shrugged, “Is there a way to tell if Match has damage when you scan their mind?”

Megan pouted as she tapped her finger to her chin, “I don’t know. I’m not sure how that would manifest in a mindscape....”

“I can’t look for it.” Raven shook her head, “To know for sure we’d need a CT and an MRI.”

“I don’t think we could get them to hold still long enough,” Cyborg said, “At least not without being able to explain what’s going on.”

“I could still take a look,” Megan offered, “See if those older memories exist. Maybe find out a bit more. I could even try to telepathically teach them English. So communicating is easier.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. What if they do have brain damage and implanting a language doesn’t take the way it usually would?” Cyborg asked.

“Hmm, that’s fair.” Megan nodded, “I’ve never done it to someone whose brain was severely injured.”

“Let’s stick to small steps,” Raven cautioned, “No need to go too fast.”

“Right, okay.” Megan drifted down so that she was standing on the floor. She turned to Match. “First small step. Telepathically speaking.”

Megan tilted her head to the side. Match looked at her and then flinched, their hands going to their head.

“Oh, it’s okay, that was me,” Megan said calmly, “See? I sound the same out loud. Hello.”

Match looked at Kon. Kon gave them a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay. It’s Megan.” Kon pointed to Megan and then pointed to his own head. 

Megan repeated the process a few times, going off of Kon’s pointing cues. She said ‘hello’ out loud when he pointed to her, and said ‘hello’ telepathically when he pointed to Match’s head. Match seemed to understand.

“They’re scared,” Raven elaborated. “Something about it is connecting to a deep feeling of fear.”

“So they’ve had telepathic contact before?” Cyborg guessed. “Maybe they did get the same info dumps you had, Kon.”

“But why would they be scared of it? If that’s how they’ve been getting most of their communications?” Kon asked. He remembered being in his pod and the earlier days at Cadmus. Talking with the other G-nomorphs, especially DoubleX, had mostly been telepathic. Cadmus was a bad memory for him, but telepathy on its own wasn’t.

Cyborg just shrugged.

“Should I go further?” Megan asked. “If just saying hello is scary…”

“I could help suppress the fear,” Raven offered. “If we think diving deeper is worth it.”

Kon sighed. Match was watching Megan warily. Kon opened his arms and Match was taking the offered hug before Kon could say the word.

“We need to know if there’s programming,” Kon said. “We need to know if Cadmus or Lex managed to put in commands. Anything else can wait, but- but we need to get rid of any programming.”

“Okay,” Megan nodded. “Let’s sit down, then, this might take a while.”

Kon got Match sitting down. He kept an arm around Match’s shoulders. Megan sat across from Match and Raven set herself hovering on Match’s other side.

“Oh! Do you want to come in with me?” Megan asked Kon. “It might be less scary if you’re there.”

“Sure,” Kon said.

Megan held out her hands. Kon took one and nodded at Match to take the other one. They did, hesitantly. Kon took a few deep breaths and Match copied him. Kon closed his eyes.

He opened them to a vast void. Darkness was all around him. Megan was there, holding his hand like she'd been out in the physical world.

“Oh,” M’gann looked around, “I’ve never seen- I’ve never seen a mindscape like this. It’s so  _ empty. _ ”

Kon looked around. There was nothing, just blank darkness all around them.

“This isn’t right,” Megan continued, “There should be _something_ here. It should be- maybe the computer room at the tower? Or the tower in general? It shouldn’t be this blank. We know Match has memories from today at least.”

“So what does it mean that there’s nothing?” Kon asked.

M’gann frowned. “This isn’t possible- wait.” She looked around. “I don’t think this is it. Here, you fly in that direction and I’ll go in this one.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, I’m testing something.” M’gann took off.

Kon sighed and flew in the opposite direction. He very quickly hit something solid. He blinked at it. It wasn’t a void- it was a pitch black wall.

“Ah-ha!” M’gann called from where she was. Kon saw her hands pressing against something- probably another wall. “I knew it. This isn’t the whole mindscape.”

“So what is it?” Kon flew back to her.

“This is a construct,” M’gann ran her hands along the wall, “A really strong psychic construct. It would take extreme training for Match to make and maintain this.”

“So if it’s not Match making it...?” Kon asked.

“Then someone put it here,” M’gann glared at the wall. “We need to find a way around it. I don’t want to try brute forcing our way through- that could damage Match’s mind.”

Kon and M’gann flew around, testing the wall. It took a bit, but M’gann found a spot where the walls overlapped. There was the smallest gap between the two layers.

“How are we going to fit through that? It’s like an inch wide.” Kon asked.

M’gann rolled her eyes, “We’re in a mindscape, Superboy. We’re not physically here, we can just change what size we are.”

“Oh, right.” Kon blushed.

“C’mon, let’s go find the real Match,” M’gann grabbed Kon’s hand and flew them through the gap.


	8. Shatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: violence

The black walls went one for a long time. Kon was relying on M’gann to know where they were. He didn’t do mindscape dives very often and he was feeling very turned around and lost. 

They came across a crack in the wall. It was a fissure with light pouring through. M’gann and Kon approached it and peared through.

“See, this is more like what I was expecting.” M’gann said as she flew them through the fissure.

Floating in the space were bits and pieces of Titans’ Tower. Mostly there were chunks of the main computer room. There was a bit of San Francisco around too, mostly off in the background, like a painting rather than a structure. Across the upper portion was an upper atmosphere view of the sky and sun. Floating in the middle of the space was Match. Or the psychic representation of them. They were back in the solar suit Kon had found them in.

“I don’t see anything that would represent psychic orders or programmed commands.” M’gann told Kon as she flew around the space. “But there’s more of their mind still shut away behind the walls.”

Match watched her fly around, eyes tracking the movement. Kon floated over to them. Match switched their attention to him.

“Kon,” Match said, reaching for him.

“Hey, Match,” Kon took their hand. “You doing okay?”

Match blinked at him and repeated, “Okay.”

“We need to go further in,” M’gann told him. “And I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring their consciousness in with us. We don’t know what’s behind the walls.”

Kon nodded to her. He smiled at Match. “Wait here, okay?”

“Okay.” Match repeated. Kon let go of their hand and followed M’gann back to the fissure.

Match called out to him, but Kon was already shrinking and following M’gann’s lead. They flew through the gap between the walls again. 

It took a while to find anything other than the long winding darkness.

Eventually they came to a dead end. M'gann frowned at the wall in front of them.

"There has to be more. Why would someone put all these walls here if there wasn't anything on the other side?" M'gann reached forward and put her hands on the wall. 

"Maybe the walls are the damage?" Kon asked. "Like they're just the way Match's mind is representing it?"

"I don't think so." M'gann frowned. "It's too specific. And solid. It looks like a powerful psychic barrier."

"So maybe we need to find another way around?" Kon asked. "Like another gap in the walls."

M'gann moved her hands over the wall, searching it. "There must be another way through."

Kon floated forward and scanned the wall as well. He reached out to feel along it for a gap.

Kon's hand touched the barrier and he was pulled through.

"Conner!"

Kon was panting. His chest hurt. His hands were clenched into fist so tightly that his bones creaked. There was a blaring noise- sharp and repeating. There was shouting, hard to hear under the blaring alarm.

He was in a lab. He was in a Cadmus lab. He recognized the equipment, the taste of kryptonite in the air. The lights were flashing, in time with the alarm. But he could see well enough.

There was a body in front of him. Laying on the ground at his feet. A white lab coat was splayed open, revealing two still-steaming holes burnt through their chest.

Kon heard snippets of the voices around him.

"Stop him!"

"Shut him down!"

"Knock him out!"

"Red sun! RED SUN!"

"Conner!"

Kon gasped. He blinked and looked around. He was back in the dark-walled dead end. M'gann was in front of him, worry clear on her face.

"What- what-?" Kon blinked. The image of the lab was still sharp in his memory. The smell of burnt flesh was almost overwhelming.

"You got past the barrier. But you didn't go all the way through," M'gann explained. "You were kind of stuck half-way."

"I saw-" Kon shook his head, "I think I saw a memory. It was- it was-"

Kon flexed his hands. They were shaking. M'gann put her hands over his gently.

"Did you see anything about the psychic orders or commands?"

Kon nodded. "The scientists, the Cadmus scientists were trying to activate one. They were trying to stop Match. Match- I think Match killed someone."

M'gann frowned at him and looked back at the wall. 

"We need to get past this barrier. Maybe-" M'gann squeezed Kon's hands, "Maybe if you tried again, I could push us the rest of the way through."

"Didn't you say that could damage Match's mind?" Kon asked.

"It might. But I don't have any other ideas." M'gann admitted. "You got some of the way through without breaking anything. Maybe you just need to put more intent behind it? Or-"

M'gann's eyes went wide. Kon turned around. 

Match was there, floating up behind them. Match looked at them and then looked past them towards the dead end wall.

"Match," Kon went to them. 

Match didn't even look at him. They just stared at the wall. Match raised their hand towards the wall and began floating closer. 

"M'gann?" Kon asked, grabbing Match's arms. Match kept floating forward.

"I don't know. I don't know-" M'gann flew over. "Match, what are you seeing?"

Match didn't show any sign of seeing or hearing them. They just kept floating towards the wall.

"What should we do? Stop them?" Kon asked.

"I don't know- I don't know what will happen-"

Match's fingers touched the wall and it crumbled.

Kon came back into his body with a psychic snap. He blinked as he tried to reorient his perspective. There was a sharp pain radiating from his hand.

Kon looked and saw Match. They were sitting on the floor of the computer room. Match's grip on his hand was crushing. It hurt, even through Kon's invulnerability.

M'gann yelled next to him. Kon's eyes snapped to her, saw her pull her arm back, her hand phasing through Match's grip. Her hand was mangled. 

"What did you guys do-?" Raven's voice rose from next to them.

Match looked up at Kon, their eyes glowing red.


	9. Shards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: more violence  
> I struggle with fight scenes...

Kon raised his TTK shield faster than a thought. Match's heat vision slammed against it. Match had his hand in a grip like a vice- Kon felt something in his wrist creak under the strain. But Kon used that connection to extend his TTK over Match, cutting off the heat vision and containing it.

"What's going on- what happened?" Raven shouted.

"I don't know-" M'gann shook her head as she flew back and away from them. "There were barriers in Match's mind but then they just broke down-"

Match strained against the TTK. They yelled- just a mindless scream- and they lunged. Kon caught them, straining against them as he used his strength to kill the momentum. His back slammed into a wall, but he kept them both from going through it.

"Match- look at me!" Kon tried to be heard over their screaming. "It's just me- it's just Kon. Remember? I'm Kon. You're safe here-"

Kon grimaced as his wrist in Match's grip snapped. Match's other hand came around, not even curled into a fist, just a wild swipe that struck Kon and put a dent in the wall behind him.

Kon caught their arm as they pulled back for another swing. 

"Match. Please, just-" Kon strained to keep his grip on them. "Breathe. Remember that? Breathe with me. Match my breathing."

Match pulled against Kon's grip. Kon's eyes went wide- Match was stronger than him. Even with Kon utilizing his TTK- wrapping it around Match's arms- Match was overpowering him.

Match seemed to notice the same moment Kon did. They snarled, a flash of teeth, and ripped their arm out of Kon's hold. They pulled Kon around by his wrecked wrist and threw him through the far wall.

"Match, you need to calm down-" Raven raised her hands and the shadows sprang to life around the room.

Match screamed at her and lunged. The shadows caught Match, but they couldn't hold them down. They strained against the energy and took a step closer to Raven.

Match's eyes glowed red again.

"Calm down!" M'gann flung a hand out towards Match, adding her telekinesis to restrain them. 

Match screamed and fired their heat vision. M’gann and Raven dodged around the beams. Kon launched himself back into the room. He put his uninjured hand on the back of Match’s head and wrapped his TTK around them again, containing the heat vision.

“We’re not going to hurt you, Match, you’re safe.” Kon told them again. “You don’t have to-”

Match was straining against the TTK, the shadow energy, and the telekinesis. They were managing to move, very slightly but still move, even with all three forces working against them.

“We got a plan B here?” Cyborg called from the other side of the room. “Ray, Miss M, can you calm them down?”

“I can’t suppress their emotions-” Raven grit her teeth, “It’s like a tidal wave.”

“I can’t reach their mind- whatever shoved us out is now blocking me.” M’gann relayed.

Kon heard sounds from the rest of the tower- the other Titans rushing to help them. Match grit their teeth and inhaled deeply. They puckered their lips and blew out sharply. Ice and frost billowed out from them, covering the whole room.

Kon and M’gann didn’t flinch at the rapid drop in temperature. But Raven and Cyborg each swore. Raven’s concentration faltered for a second, the shadows laxed, and Match broke free.

Kon could barely track what was happening- Match had grabbed his throat, Match was flying them upwards through layers of the Tower, Match broke free of the Tower and kept going. Match’s grip was constricting. Kon focused his TTK under Match’s hand, stopping them from crushing his windpipe.

"Match-" Kon gasped. 

"Sun." Match said through their clenched teeth.

Match leveled out in the stratosphere. Kon tried to pull away and out of the crushing grip, but Match kept him there. 

“Match,” Kon tried again. 

Match glared at Kon and raised their other fist. Kon twisted and caught the blow on his forearm.

“Match, just stop-”

“STOP!” Match screamed as they threw more punches, “STOP! STOP! STOP HIM! STOP HIM!”

Kon blocked what he could, braced with his TTK for the rest. Match slipped into superspeed and the strength of the blows bowled through Kon’s guard. One particularly nasty hook caught Kon’s side and Kon felt something snap.

Kon had taken a few beatings over the course of his superhero career. Most of them had involved kryptonite or red-sun light weakening his powers. It was very rare that something or someone managed to injure him while he was fully powered up. It had happened. Like when he’d died- Superboy Prime had tore through him, invulnerability and all. 

Getting injured while powered down or poisoned sucked. But getting injured despite his invulnerability? Through his invulnerability? It was a whole different kind of pain.

“Match-  _ Match- _ ” Kon gasped between blows. Match’s hand tightened around his throat. “I don’t want to hurt you-”

“STOP HIM! STOP HIM! STOP! STOP! STOP MATCH!”

Kon took another blow to his side, felt whatever was broken shift, and grit his teeth in pain. He grabbed Match’s wrist, the one holding his throat, and snapped it sideways. Match screamed and Kon backed away quickly. Match cradled their wrist. Kon was fairly certain he’d only bruised it. It hadn’t felt like he’d actually managed to break any bones.

Match looked up at him, eyes glowing red again.

Kon braced with his TTK shield. Match’s heat vision cut across his chest. Kon thought for a split second that it was weird how he could feel the heat through the TTK. And then the beam sliced through his shield.

Kon screamed. It was involuntary and ripped from his throat. He dropped from the sky, pouring on speed to dodge. Match followed him, heat vision cutting this way and that. It clipped Kon a few times, searing through the TTK again.

_ Fuck! FUCK!  _ **_FUCK_ ** _! _ Kon tried desperately to think. Match was way stronger than him. Their powers were stronger- they even had frost breath. A power which Kon had never managed to manifest.

He didn’t know what he could do- he hadn’t wanted to get into an actual fight with Match  _ before _ he knew Match was more powerful. He couldn’t think of a way to get through to them. Talking wasn’t working. Restraining them hadn’t worked. Miss Martian couldn’t psychic blast them unconscious.

Kon thought for a second about trying to knock them out by suffocation. He could make his TTK air tight. But that wasn’t practical. Kon could hold his own breath for up to ten minutes.

Match slammed into Kon, grappling him into a hold. Kon twisted and managed to get his hand splayed alongside his neck before Match’s arm wrapped around it.  _ Thank you, Tim. _ Kon thought as he braced against the chokehold. He would never complain about practicing ground work again. But even with the bracing, even with his TTK, Kon could feel Match’s arm continuing to constrict.

A bright green explosion slammed into Match’s side. They rocked back from the force of it, but didn’t let go.

A fiery red streak appeared in front of them. Starfire’s hair haloed her as she hoovered in the sky.

“Let him go.” Starfire said, her hands and eyes glowing green.

“Stop him!” Match shouted at her. Their arm continued to squeeze tighter around Kon’s neck. “Stop him! Stop him! Stop him!”

“Match-” Kon gasped.

Match yelled over him. “Stop him! Stop Match! Stop him! Stop Match!”

“I will.” Starfire said.

Star shot forward. She grabbed for Match’s hands. They turned, but couldn’t evade her. Star grabbed Match’s wrists. Kon could smell the star-bolt energy around her hands burning away the lower sleeves of Match’s shirt. She braced her foot against Match’s chest and pulled their arms open. 

Kon flew out of the slackened grasp. He got some more distance before turning back, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

Match was screaming at Starfire, pulling against her hold. Star flipped her grip, spinning Match around and putting them into an arm-bind. Star was holding them, but Kon could see her straining to do it. 

Kon could only think of one way to stop Match’s rampage. He hated himself for even considering it, but they were running out of options.

Kon flew in closer. Starfire shot him a questioning look. Kon flew in front of Match and put his good hand against their cheek.

“I’m sorry-”

Match screamed at him, “STOP HIM! STOP MATCH!”

“Red Sun.”

Kon watched as Match froze. Their eyes went distant and all of the tension bled out of their muscles.


	10. Bruised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: talk of injuries

Starfire made the call to bring Match back to the tower. They were more or less catatonic since Kon had activated the shut-down command. Starfire called ahead on the comms for the team to set up one of the observation rooms with the red sunlamps they had. Normally the lamps were put away in storage. Their main use was to aid with small medical procedures involving Kon. Like when it was necessary to delay his healing factor before resetting a bone or cleaning a wound of debris. 

By the time they got back to the Tower roof there were already people working to cover the hole Match had put in the building. Garth was using magic to keep the early morning fog away from where Jamie was patching the exposed wires and pipes.

Starfire carried Match over her shoulder, heading straight to the prepared holding room.

“You look rough,” Garth commented as Kon floated past them.

Kon didn’t try to hide his grimace. His chest was radiating pain from the large burn scorched into him. He had a few more burns, one on his shoulder, another had caught him across the back of his left calf. His broken wrist was throbbing in time with his pulse. His side ached too, and his breathing kept jarring whatever had snapped. Kon was pretty sure his throat was quickly becoming a mess of bruises.

“Holy crap, ese,” Jamie popped his head out of the hole in the roof to look at him. “Do you need help getting to med bay?”

“I’m okay.” Kon waved them off with his good hand. “Well, not  _ okay, _ but I’m not gonna pass out on the way or anything.”

“If you say so….” Jaime frowned at him. “Oh, hey- Khaji Da says you should get your rib looked at before it punctures something. Although- aren’t you invulnerable? How would that even work…?”

“I have no fucking idea,” Kon sighed and winced as that jostled his ribs.

Kon floated himself to the medbay. Fortunately it hasn't been damaged in Match's flight out of the Tower. Garfield was on one of the beds, his leg in a brace. Cyborg and Raven were at one of the sinks, refilling tubs of warm water. They each had a couple towels draped over them. Raven was also passing her hand over her skin, deep blue energy thrumming softly.

" _ Dude, _ " Gar hissed through his teeth as he spotted him. "What happened to you?"

"Holy shit," Cyborg swore as he turned to look.

"Uh-" Kon shrugged one shoulder and inhaled sharply when that pulled at his burns. "...I lost a fight with a Kryptonian?"

"Is Star hurt too?" Gar asked.

Kon shook his head. "No, just me."

Raven floated over to him, extending her glowing blue hand towards the large burn on his chest. "Anything broken?"

"My wrist. And maybe a rib or two." Kon told her. "You don't have to- my healing factor should be able to handle the burns."

Raven raised an eyebrow but didn't pull her hand back. 

"Let's make sure your ribs and wrist are set properly."

Kon’s comm pinged with a hail form Tim. He answered.

“Hey.”

“Hey- I got a bunch of structural damage alerts from the Tower, but I can’t access the Tower systems to follow up on them. Are you there?”

“Yeah. I’m at the Tower. Everyone’s okay. There was-” Kon sighed. “It was a really long night.”

“Should I head over?” Tim asked. Kon could hear through his line the faint chirping of bats in the background.

Kon sighed again. He rubbed his not-injured hand over his face. “Probably. We’ve got a bit of a...situation. I’ll go double check with Star, but I think you should bring Batman too.”

“What happened?”

Kon flexed his hurt wrist and winced at the sharp pain it sent shooting up his arm. 

“I found another Cadmus clone.”

“What?” Tim’s voice went up an octave, “Where? Are they alive? Conscious? Are they-?”

“Red.” Kon interrupted.

“Yes?”

“You should bring some kryptonite.”

There was a pause on Tim’s end. Kon could hear the sounds of something moving, the rustle of cloth and the sound of shoes against stone.

“I’ll go wake up B.” Tim told him. “And then you’re briefing us both.”

Kon sat in the attached viewing area of the observation room. Match was set up on a cot, still staring blankly ahead in a daze. The two way mirror Kon was looking through blocked most of the red sun light bathing the other room. Starfire sat on one side of him, Cyborg on the other. 

“How long do you think they’ll be out of it?” Cy asked.

Kon shook his head, “I don’t know. Some of the Cadmus commands I had shut me down for a certain amount of time. Some had both an on- and an off-code.”

Cy nodded.

Kon swallowed thickly.

“You are feeling upset?” Starfire asked softly. “About using the command?”

“...I’m not feeling great about it.” Kon said, his voice rough.

“I believe it was the right decision.” Star reached over and put her hand on Kon’s shoulder gently. “You were able to stop them without injuring them.”

“Not  _ physically. _ ” Kon said. “It might’ve shattered any trust Match had towards me.”

“They were asking to be stopped.” Star pointed out.

“I don’t know if they were,” Kon shook his head, “I don’t know what they were trying to say, or even if they were trying to communicate beyond making loud noises.”

There was a lull in the conversation. Kon stared ahead into the room, watching Match’s chest rise and fall with their breathing. Star’s hand was warm where it laid on his shoulder.


	11. Fragile

It was two hours before the Bat-plane landed on the roof of Titans Tower. The hole in the roof was being worked on still. Cyborg and Jaime were making quick work of the rewiring and framing.

"How many floors were damaged?" Tim asked as he looked down through the hole.

"Four," Cyborg replied, "How's your morning going, Red?"

"Not as bad," Tim shrugged, "Although waking Batman up before noon is always hazardous."

"Red Robin," Bruce called from where he was waiting at the roof access.

Jaime laughed and Cyborg grinned.

"Where's Kon?" Tim ignored Bruce.

"Still parked right outside of observation room 3, as far as I know." Cyborg shrugged. "He hasn't moved since he was cleared from medical."

Tim knelt down and peered at the fuse box Jamie was setting up. "How bad is he hurt?"

"He's looking worse than I've ever seen him," Jaime frowned. 

"He should fully recover," Cyborg quickly assured him. "But, yeah- going just on appearances, he's pretty fucked up."

"And Match?" Tim asked.

"Still out, last I checked." Cyborg said.

Kon heard the Bat-plane land. He was still sitting in the viewing area, watching Match. Kon had a thought in the back of his head. About how even the small amount of red sun light that was coming through the glass was probably slowing his own recovery. About how he should probably be on the roof, getting as much yellow sunlight as he could. 

Or how he should probably go greet his boyfriend (and his boyfriend's Dad) who flew all the way out to San Fran during daylight hours to help him. 

Or how just the idea of leaving Match alone in a room after triggering a programmed psychic shutdown made Kon want to throw up. Made him itch to flex his hurt wrist or pick at his burns.

"Oh," Kon said very softly.

"Hmm?" Starfire turned to look at him.

"I think I'm... fuck, what's the word-?" Kon struggled to remember. He'd heard Tim say it a few times, Bart too. "Uh… dissociating? Or maybe…. spiraling thoughts? What's the difference again? I should know this-"

"Kon," Star reached over and took his good hand in hers. "Maybe finding the right word isn't the most pressing concern. What are you feeling?"

"Uh," Kon swallowed roughly, "Sick. Like, maybe nauseous. And y'know, pain." Kon lifted his wrapped wrist. "Just really bad, like in general."

"Do you wish to go outside? Or closer to a window?" Starfire suggested.

"No." Kon stole a glance back over towards Match. "I don't know. Maybe I should, but I really, really don't want to. But I should- right? I'm not doing them any good just sitting here in pain. But that kind of also feels like what I should be doing?"

Starfire narrowed her eyes. "You feel like you should be in pain?"

Kon frowned. Saying it like that didn't sound right, but the sentiment still felt accurate.

"...yes?"

"I'm vetoing that."

Kon turned and saw Tim coming through the doorway. He was in his Red Robin gear with a fully suited-up Batman right behind him.

"Vetoing?" Kon repeated.

Kon saw Tim take in his injuries. Even with the whites of his domino masking his eyes, Kon could tell he was giving him a once-over. Kon saw Tim's hands shake for a moment before he clenched them into fists.

"Yeah, I'm vetoing the motion to be in pain for the sake of being in pain." Tim gave Kon a small smile as he reached out a hand. "C'mon. We're getting you some daylight."

Kon hesitated. He wanted to take Tim's hand. He wanted to go with him and ease some of the aches and burns radiating through him. 

Kon looked back over at Match.

"I will remain here." Starfire told him. "I will watch them."

Batman stepped around Red Robin and took up a position standing at the glass. He gave Kon a nod towards Tim.

"Just for a bit." Tim flexed his offered hand. "Please?"

Kon clenched his jaw. He nodded. Kon stood and slipped his hand out of Starfire's. He took Tim's offered one and let himself be pulled out of the room.

Kon hesitated when they came to the staircase to the roof access.

Tim gave him a questioning look. Kon shook his head. He could hear the people up on the roof, chatting back and forth while working on the repairs. The prospect of going up there suddenly felt impossible.

"How about we go to Star's balcony?" Tim suggested.

Kon shrugged and winced as he pulled his burns again. Tim frowned at him.

"C'mon."

Tim led them through Star's room and out onto her plant covered balcony. San Francisco bay was beautifully laid out before them. The morning fog was all but gone and the bright blue sky stretched upwards. 

Kon let out a breath as the sunlight hit him. It numbed some of the pain and made the rest a little more bearable.

"Better?" Tim asked.

Kon nodded. "A little, yeah."

Tim squeezed Kon's hand and hopped up to sit on the railing. Kon floated up to sit next to him.

"Hi," Kon tried for a smile. "Forgot to say that earlier."

Tim smiled back at him, "Hi."

Kon closed his eyes and tilted his head back, feeling the sunlight on his face. Kon heard Tim's heart rate pick up slightly, heard his teeth grind against each other a little.

Kon turned to look at him and caught Tim staring at his neck.

"Oh- hey, I wanted to thank you." Kon waved at his throat. "You know all those groundwork drills I complained about, but you made me do them anyway? I actually used some of it. Blocked a chokehold."

Tim tilted his head to the side, "This level of bruising is from a blocked choke?"

Kon shrugged, "Match is stronger than me. Might even be as strong as Superman. I'm okay with bruises if it meant I didn't pass out in the stratosphere. Or, y'know, worse."

Tim's grip on Kon's hand would've been crushing to anyone else. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Was Match going to kill you?" Tim interrupted.

Kon sighed, "I don't know."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means I don't know." Kon snapped. "It means I'm flying more blind than I thought I was, which was already pretty fucking blind. I don't know  _ anything _ about Match. I don't know why Cadmus made them, I don't know why they're so much stronger than me, I don't know why they suddenly lashed out. I don't know why they don't know how to talk- I don't know if the piece of a memory I saw in their mind was real or not- I don't know!"

Kon was hovering above the balcony, his good hand gesturing wildly with his words. He clenched his jaw tightly.

"I don't know if I made the right call." Kon said through his teeth. "I don't know if the catatonic state I put Match in has a time limit. I've got no idea what I did to them, and no fucking way to find out."

Tim watched him. He was perched on the railing, his cape was tucked under him but the edges were still catching the sea breeze. He cleared his throat.

"I know it was a hard call to make." Tim said softly. "But I'm glad you made it. I'm glad you're floating in front of me right now having doubts about it rather than- y'know,  _ worse _ ."

Kon didn't know what to say to that. Tim gave him a fragile smile.


	12. Reflections

Kon and Tim stayed out on Star’s balcony for about an hour. They came back in when Star pinged their comms.

“Match is waking up.”

Kon flew back to the observation room, Tim hurrying along behind him. Batman was still in the viewing area. Star was in the room. She was sitting on the edge of the cot. Match was stirring. Their hands twitched and their face was shifting from the blank expression they’d had. Their eyes moved this way and that.

Starfire spoke, her voice calm and soothing. “You are in the tower, Match. We moved you here to keep you safe. How are you feeling?”

Match’s gaze snapped to her as she spoke. Kon saw how Match’s muscles were tensing up, saw how their expression was hardening. Match pushed themself upright on the cot and snarled. They tried to reach out and hit Star.

Star easily turned the blow aside. She pushed Match’s arm down and away.

“I am not going to harm you,” Star told them, keeping her tone even. “There is no need for violence.”

Match glared and grit their teeth. Match scrambled off of the cot and backed away from Starfire. Match's eyes darted around, their expression flickering between anger and confusion.

"Do they have X-ray vision?" Batman asked.

"A super-vision of some sort," Kon replied, "They were clocking people through walls earlier."

"Which wouldn't be functioning now, right? Because of the lights?" Tim asked.

Kon nodded, "I've never had any super-power function under red sunlight. At least not when fully exposed, like we've got the room set up for now."

Starfire stayed seated on the cot. She kept speaking in a gentle tone. Match glared at her and explored the room further. They felt along the walls, tried the door handle, glared at the mirror. Match reeled back and tried to punch the glass.

Their hand didn't make a single crack appear. Match yelled, a harsh bellow, and punched at it again. And again. And again.

A harsh crack sounded on the fifth impact, but the thick, bulletproof glass was still intact. Match's knuckles came away bloody. 

Star got up and went to them, pulling them back from the glass. Match thrashed in her hold, but couldn't break out of her grip. Star tried to keep speaking calmly to them, but Match just wrenched against her hold. Kon winced as he saw Match dislocate their shoulder in an attempt to escape.

Batman hit the comms for the room. "I'm coming in." He strode to the door.

"The pain doesn't seem to be deterring them," Tim commented as Bruce closed the door behind him. 

"No," Kon frowned. "It doesn't. It's like it's not even registering."

They watched as Batman approached Star and Match. He took Match's dislocated arm from Star's grip and swiftly pulled and reset the shoulder. Match screamed and lunged for him. Batman dodged the wild swipe.

"Let's try a softer approach," Batman waved for Starfire to let go. "Open hand, so to speak."

Star clenched her jaw, but nodded. She let go and Match stumbled away from her. They got their feet under them and yelled. Match made another swing at Batman. Bruce grabbed the outside of their arm and turned them aside, directing them to the center of the room, away from the walls and mirror. Star mirrored Batman and took up a stance on the other side of Match.

Match didn't seem to understand what they were doing. Batman and Starfire kept dodging and deflecting Match's punches and kicks. They kept moving Match back to the center of the room, keeping them from striking the walls.

Match was getting more and more upset. They threw wild swipes and kicks and lunges but none of them connected. Match was pushed and directed back to the center of the room again and again. They yelled and screamed, but eventually began to run out of steam.

Match panted heavily. They stood in the middle of the room, fists clenched but hanging low at their side. Batman and Starfire kept their guards up. 

"Do you think they'll just keep going until they pass out?" Tim asked.

Kon shrugged. 

"We do not need to keep fighting," Starfire offered. "We can stop."

"...st-stop…" Match said between pants.

Starfire smiled at them, "We could do something else instead. We could sit. Would you like to sit down?"

Match grit their teeth and lunged at Star. She turned and side-stepped the blow. She shoved at Match's hip, turning them back toward the center of the room.

"...-own….d-down…." Match said. "...shut down…."

"No.  _ Sit  _ down. Sit." Starfire corrected. "Like this," She took a step back and sat on the floor. "Sit down. Sit."

Match looked at her, teeth still clenched but arms hanging loosely.

"Sit." Starfire pointed to Match and then pointed at the floor. "Match, sit."

Match looked down at the floor. They turned to the side and looked at Batman. 

"Sit." Bruce repeated and he lowered himself to a crouch. "Sit down."

Match looked back at Starfire. They were still heaving in breaths, sweat was soaking their shirt.

"Sit, please." Starfire smiled and pointed at the ground again.

Match looked at the ground and ungracefully half-collapsed half-sat down.

"Yes! Good job! Match, sit!" Starfire beamed at them.

"...sit…" Match repeated. They slumped further, curling around their legs. "...sit…"

Starfire smiled at Batman. He nodded to her.

Match lifted his head, looking at Star again.

"...-ire…"

Starfire beamed. "That's right. I'm Starfire." She pointed at herself, "Starfire."

"...star...fire," Match repeated. They pushed themself up into a sitting posture that mimicked hers. They raised their arms slightly, and opened them.

"...hug?"

Starfire's eyebrows went up. She shot Batman a look and he shrugged one shoulder at her.

Starfire nodded and lifted herself up slightly. She hovered over to Match and wrapped them in a hug.

"Hug," Starfire repeated.

Match leaned into the touch. 

"I'm guessing that's something they learned before the sudden rage incident?" Tim asked Kon.

Kon nodded. "Star taught it to them when they learned her name."

"That's good," Tim said, "That means they're making connections and following a bit of logical reasoning again. Starfire is associated with hugs, so they asked Starfire for a hug."

Kon nodded. He watched as Star held Match. She kept them in an embrace as she shifted, bringing a hand up to run through their hair. Match leaned into the touch, almost chasing her hand with their head. 

"...soft," Match said.

"Yes, your hair is soft," Starfire told them as she ran her fingers gently through their hair.

"Hug," Match said, leaning more of their weight against her.

"Hugs are nice." Starfire replied.

Match turned to look at Batman again. And then turned to look at the door. And then the mirror.

"Match," Match pointed at the mirror.

"It is your reflection," Star told them softly. She pointed at Match's chest. "You are Match."

Match looked at the door and pointed towards it.  "....Kon?"


	13. Broken

“I don’t think it's a good idea.” Tim said.

Kon gave him a look.

Tim returned it. “That room is bathed in red sunlight. You go in there and your pain levels are going to skyrocket. Not to mention that your broken ribs could potentially puncture your then not-invulnerable lungs.”

“Raven and I set and bound my ribs. They’re not going to-”

“But if Match attacks? If you get hit there again?” Tim pressed.

Kon rolled his eyes. “You think with Star, Batman, and you watching them, Match is going to get a lucky hit in on me?”

Tim pressed his lips together tightly and didn’t argue that point.

“Kon?” Match’s voice came out of the room’s speakers again. 

Kon hit the room’s comms, “We’re coming in.”

Kon opened the door and Tim stepped in in front of him. Kon followed behind. Match stared at them, eyeing Tim for a moment before fixating on Kon.

“Kon-” Match said. They tried to move to get up, but Star kept a gentle grip on them. Match turned to her, opening their mouth but not saying anything.

“Sit. Match and Starfire will sit. Kon will come join us.” Star explained.

Kon walked forward. Tim kept himself in front of him, acting like a shield for Kon, despite being half a head shorter and much more narrow. Tim knelt so that he was in front of Match on the side opposite from Starfire. Kon lowered himself carefully. His ribs felt like they were on fire, each breath hurting more than the last. He barely kept a grimace off his face.

“Hey, Match.”

“Kon,” Match said as they reached for him. 

Tim’s hand snapped out and caught Match’s wrist. Match blinked at him.

Kon brought his good hand up and put it over Tim’s. He gently took Match’s wrist and turned it to look at their bloody knuckles.

“I think you broke some bones here,” Kon observed.

Match looked at their hand. They flexed their fingers and narrowed their eyes.

“Brok-som?”

“Broken,” Kon said clearly. He lifted Match’s hand and repeated, “Broken.”

Match pulled their hand back, holding it up to their face to peer at it closely. “Broken.”

Match looked back at Kon and down to Kon’s injured wrist. They pointed at it. “Broken?”

“Yeah,” Kon lifted his wrapped wrist, but didn’t hold it out, “Broken.”

Match pointed to Kon’s neck, the mass of bruises there, “Broken?”

“No,” Kon shook his head and winced as his neck screamed in pain at him. “No. Not broken. Just hurt. Hurt.”

“Hur- hurt.” Match repeated. 

“I mean, technically the blood vessels _are_ broken-” Tim said under his breath.

“Don’t confuse them,” Kon shoved at Tim’s shoulder.

Match pointed at Tim, “...fuse-em?”

“No,” Kon smiled, “This is Red Robin. Red Robin.”

“Rrred rrrobing...red- red robin?” Match said slowly.

“Red Robin,” Tim repeated as he nodded.

Match turned and pointed at Batman.

“Batman,” Bruce said while pointing at himself.

“Batmam- Batam...Batnan…” Match struggled, “...batman?” 

“Batman,” Bruce nodded.

Match turned back to Kon. They pointed to their shoulder, “Hurt. Batman hurt?”

Kon inhaled sharply. “Uh-”

“Yes.” Bruce nodded. “I reset their dislocated shoulder. They’re correct, I caused them to hurt. They’re communicating well, don’t confuse them.”

Kon nodded and pointed to Match’s shoulder, “Batman hurt.”

Match pointed to Kon’s wrist, “Match hurt.”

Kon swallowed roughly and nodded, “Yes. Match hurt.”

Match pointed to Kon’s throat. “Match hurt.”

“Yes, Match hurt.”

Match pointed to Kon’s chest. His burn was covered in bandages under his shirt, no part of it was visible.

“Match hurt?”

“Match hurt.” Kon confirmed.

Match’s face was hard to read. Their eyes were darting between Kon’s injuries and then back to his face. Match pulled their hand back to their chest, almost cradling it there.

“...stop him…” Match muttered under their breath.

“We did,” Starfire told them, squeezing her arm around Match’s shoulders gently. “We stopped you.”

“Stop Match?” Match asked, looking up at her.

Star nodded. “We stopped Match. You are calm again. There is no need for any violence.”

“Shut down,” Match said. They turned to Kon. “Shut him down.”

Kon shook his head, “ _No._ I’m not going to do that to you again.”

“Shut him down,” Match repeated. “Shut him down.”

“No.” Kon said.

“Stop Match. Shut him down-” Match turned back to Starfire, “Shut him down. Shut him down.”

“We do not need to shut you down.” Star shook her head. “No shut down.”

“Match hurt,” Match pointed at Kon, “Match hurt. Shut him down. Shut him down.”

Bruce cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him. Bruce pointed to Match’s shoulder. “Batman hurt.”

Match nodded. “Batman hurt.”

Bruce pointed to himself, “Batman shut down?”

Match blinked. They turned to look at everyone else.

“No.” Tim said as he shook his head. “No shut down.”

“No shut down.” Star also said.

“No shut down.” Kon repeated.

Match turned back to Batman. “...no shut down?”

Bruce smiled a little, emphasizing it so it would be plain for Match to read. “Batman sit. Batman no shut down.”

Match inhaled sharply. They looked back at Kon. 

“Match sit. Sit.” Match pointed at the ground they were sitting on. “Sit….no shut down?”

“Yeah,” Kon smiled. “No shut down.”

Once they were able to get Match to drink some water and learn to sit on the cot, they moved Kon out of the room. Match seemed distressed by that, but didn’t stand up to do anything about it. 

Kon tried to communicate that he would be back, but he wasn’t sure that Match actually understood him.

They settled back in the viewing area.

“Well, that was confusing.” Tim sighed. “What decides which Match we get? What triggers the rage and what changed to bring back the gentle amnesiac?”

“We don’t have much data to go on,” Bruce commented, “They’ve been here less than a day.”

“Well, I mean, M’gann and I literally broke the mental barriers in Match’s mind. I’m pretty sure that’s what caused them to freak out.” Kon said.

“But then what ended the freak out?” Tim asked. “It seemed like they got tired and then slowly drifted away from the rage.”

“It could be adrenaline related,” Bruce suggested, “As they ran out of energy under the red sunlight, they ran out of adrenaline. The mental shock of the barriers breaking could have triggered an adrenaline rush and tripped them into the initial rage.”

“So, what, it’s just a super-charged fight over flight instinct?” Tim asked.

“That could be a part of it.” Bruce frowned, “I’m worried about other inconsistencies.”

“Other?” Star asked.

“While we were wearing them down, Match’s movements were untrained and lacking in coordination. Except for the few moments when they weren’t. They almost broke out of a hand hold.” Batman turned to Kon, “You said when you fought that they tried to put you in a chokehold?”

“Yeah,” Kon touched his neck. 

“Were they just grabbing at your neck, or was it a deliberate hold to stop the blood flow to your brain?”

Kon frowned, remembering. “...it was a deliberate move. When Match grabbed me by the throat the first time, they were trying to crush my windpipe. But the second- the second was an actual chokehold. The kind you use to knock someone out instead of kill them. Although the force they were using probably would have snapped my neck anyway.”

“They’ve had some training.” Bruce concluded.

Starfire hummed under her breath, “I do not think so. It is not what I would call training. It feels very random. It is more like they are reacting and stumbling into more advanced moves.”

“It might be psychic training.” Kon said. “Stumbling into doing things- that’s how a lot of my first experiences out of the pod felt. I pronounced words perfectly even though I’d never spoken before, I could walk because I had been given the knowledge of walking. Like muscle memory but without the memory.”

“But Match doesn’t pronounce things perfectly.” Tim pointed out.

“Maybe they did not receive all of the training?” Starfire suggested.

“Or it’s something else interfering with their ability to access the training.” Bruce exhaled deeply. “You mentioned brain damage as a possibility in your briefing.”

“Match was drowning in their shut-down pod when I found them. And I don’t know how long they were down there like that. So yeah, maybe it’s physical damage.” Kon clenched his jaw, “But M’gann said the barriers we found in Match’s mind had been put there by someone else.” 

“We should see if we can get another look in their mind,” Tim said, “See what, if anything, is left of the barriers. And we should check them for physical damage.”

“How would we know what to look for?” Star asked, “We do not have a baseline for comparing.”

“We can approximate one,” Bruce nodded towards Kon, “We can use you, Superman, and Supergirl as stand-ins.”

“Last time I checked, you weren’t a neurologist, B.” Tim tilted his head. “And last time I checked, there weren’t _any_ neurologists that study Kryptonian brains. At least not since Cadmus vanished.”

Bruce stared at Tim for a moment before sighing. “I’ll put in a call to Doctor Mid-Nite.”


	14. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super familiar with McKnider/Dr Mid-Nite. But I love them as a character. So here is my take of got-to-grow-old-and-retire Charles McKnider. I picture this version of him in his eighties.

Watching Batman try to smooth talk someone over a cellphone was oddly entertaining. Kon and Tim could see his tense posture and clenched fist and how at odds it was with the very carefully crafted tone of voice Bruce was using.

“Yes, I am aware of the definition of the word unavailable-” Bruce sighed.

Tim raised an eyebrow at Kon. Kon rolled his eyes and Tim cracked a smile.

“I wouldn’t be calling you if it wasn’t important.” Bruce continued. He paused and frowned as he listened. “If you think he’d be able to-” Batman’s jaw clenched, “No, I’m not doubting him. I’m simply asking if he has kept up his training in retirement.”

Bruce ended the call soon after and let everyone know he’d be back in the Batplane in a couple hours.

“Cross is unable to come, but apparently McKnider is eager to help.” Bruce told Tim, “I’ll work with Mr Terrific and see that Clark is relieved from search and rescue to arrive when I get back.”

“We’ll hold down the fort,” Tim told him.

Tim and Kon spent more time in the observation room with Match. Tim, being the one with two working hands, got Match's busted knuckles cleaned up and wrapped. Match, again, didn't seem to physically react to the pain. But they acknowledged it through words.

"Hurt." Match said in a monotone. "Red Robin hurt."

"Red Robin is cleaning and wrapping your wound." Tim said back. Tim pointed to Kon's wrapped wrist. "Like that. I'm helping. Have we gone over that one yet? Helping."

"Red-" Kon smiled.

"What?" Tim raised an eyebrow at him while he cleaned Match's knuckles. Match leaned in close to watch.

Kon watched as Tim gently dabbed on the antibiotic ointment. Match tried to touch it with their other hand, but Tim brushed them aside.

"No," Tim told them gently. "Don't touch. I have to wrap it still."

"...no…" Match repeated. They tried to touch the ointment again. 

Tim grabbed their free hand and pointedly moved it back to the cot. "Don't. Touch."

"Don't. Touch." Match repeated. They looked at Kon over Tim's head. "Don't touch."

"It's kind of weird to hear your voice coming from someone else," Tim commented.

"Do we really sound that alike?" Kon asked as he nodded at Match.

"If you didn't have a slight Kansas accent it'd be identical." 

"I don't have a Kansas accent." Kon pouted.

"You do too." Tim grinned at him. "It comes out more when you say slang like _y'all_."

"Says the Gothamite." Kon huffed. " _Wanna go get sum foo'?_ "

Tim turned and gave him a look.

Kon grinned, " _Is there a praw-blem, 'ere?_ "

"I don't talk like that." Tim fought a smile.

"You do when you get flustered or are in a rush." Kon pressed. "I remember Bart saying something about knowing shit's getting real when you can hear the Gotham in your voice."

Tim rolled his eyes and finished tucking in the end of the bandage around Match’s hand.

“There you go,” Tim smiled at them.

Match flexed their hand. “Hurt.”

“You remind me of my sister,” Tim gently took Match’s hand and laid it down onto Match’s lap. “She was trained to not react to pain, but I don’t know why you would have been. It’s weird that you don’t even flinch.”

“Maybe they’ve got nerve damage too?” Kon wondered as he looked at Match.

Match noticed and smiled at him. Kon took their good hand with his and squeezed gently.

Batman radioed his ETA as he was en route. Starfire and Raven switched out with Tim and Kon as they went to meet them on the roof. The Batplane landed and Batman hopped out of the cockpit with a flourish of his cape.

“Superboy, if you could help Dr. McKnider-”

“I’m old, not infirm,” Came an exasperate voice from the plane.

Bruce motioned Kon forward. Kon floated up and offered a hand to Dr McKnider.

“Thank you,” McKnider said as Kon floated him down. McKnider leaned heavily on his cane. He was sporting his old cowl and cape, but was wearing a cardigan and slacks under it. “If you could show me to your lab space, we can get started with our control tests.”

“Cyborg’s waiting down in the main med bay.” Tim said as they walked towards the roof access, “He can explain all of the….abnormal tech we’ve got on hand.”

“I feel a bit like a kid going to a candy store.” McKnider winked at Kon.

“You coming, B?” Tim asked.

Batman shook his head, “I’ll wait for Sup-”

Clark landed next to Bruce, causing his cape to fly up into his face.

“What is this about another clone?!” Clark asked, voice clearly distraught.

“I’ll debrief him,” Bruce told Tim as he took a hold of Clark’s arm to stop him from rushing off, “We’ll meet you in the med bay.”

Kon and Clark went through a few different brain scans. They got CTs and MRIs done as well as reactive PET scans. Kon was very thankful that the machines at the Tower were augmented to work much faster than their standard counterparts. He knew his claustrophobia was going to be triggered, but he managed. It helped that each test didn’t last longer than 30 seconds.

It also helped that Kon could go outside after each test. Tim went with him, and they stayed out on the roof until Kon got his breathing back to normal. 

Moving Match up to the med bay for their tests was a bit of a production. Raven and Starfire carried some of the portable red sun lamps up with Match, and then set them up around the machines, close enough to keep Match powered-down, but far enough away to not interfere with the machines.

“So, you’re our main patient, huh? Match, was it?” McKnider introduced himself, holding out a hand.

Match nodded, “Match.” They grabbed McKnider’s forearm, “Khaíre.”

“The same to you,” McKnider smiled and grasped Match’s forearm. “I’m Dr Mid-Nite.”

Through a bit of monkey-see monkey-do, they got Match to lay down and hold still for the tests. Kon was worried they might also freak out about the confined space. But Match didn’t seem panicked at all.

McKnider also ran Match through a full physical while he had them in the med bay. 

“Thank you, that’s all for now,” McKnider patted Match’s arm. “I feel like I should be offering you a lollipop, but I forgot to bring some.”

“They don’t really like solid food anyway,” Kon told him. 

“They do like hugs.” Starfire said.

Match’s head perked up at that. “Hug?”

“Sure,” McKnider opened his arms. Match gave him a hug. “You’ve been a wonderful patient. I’ll do my best to make heads or tails of it all.”

They got Match settled back into the observation room. Kon stayed with them for a bit until Tim bugged him to go get another dose of yellow sunlight.

Clark was waiting outside of the observation room.

“Do you have a second?” Clark asked him.

Kon nodded and tilted his head. Clark followed him up to the roof and sat next to him at the edge. Both of their legs dangled out over the side of the Tower.

“How are you…handling all of this?” Clark asked.

Kon shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m worried?”

Clark nodded. “Worried. I- yeah, worried.” Clark sighed and looked out over the bay. His cape moved gently in the wind. “Have you thought about the next steps?

“Not exactly.” Kon gripped his hands into fists and winced as his broken wrist flared with pain. “I mean, we need to know what’s going on with them first. We need to know what programming and damage and whatever else Match has before we can really think about, like, where they're going to live.”

Clark moved and placed his hand gently over Kon’s wrist. Kon relaxed his hand.

“I’m worried about you, too.” Clark said, his voice quiet. “They- you’re-”

“I’m-” Kon exhaled deeply, “...I’ll heal.”

Clark frowned at him. “Do you want me to stick around? Just, in case-”

“No, it’s okay. Starfire handled them last time. And now we’ve got them set up under the lights and- and Batman brought some kryptonite. We’ve got this.” Kon insisted. “You’re still working the typhoon response, right? Don’t let me keep you. I already bailed on that mission, there’s no need for you to ditch too.”

“I wouldn’t say you _bailed._ ” Clark said quickly. “But if you’re sure…”

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” Kon told him.

Clark gave him a look that was hard to read. “Have you called home yet? Since you got called in for the typhoon?”

“No. But I will.” Kon told him. “Seriously, I’ll be okay. You can go.”

Clark squeezed Kon’s shoulder lightly and then took off. Kon took a deep breath. He let it out shakily. 

Kon brought his knees up, hugging them to his chest. His wrist felt like it was on fire. His broken ribs were screaming at him. His burns were throbbing in time to his heartbeat. Kon could feel tears gathering in his eyes.

He would be fine. He would be.

He wasn’t, but he would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accent Head-cannons:  
> I picture a Gotham accent being akin to a New Jersey accent. With variations because its a big city, just like real accents. I figure the Batfamily member with the heaviest accent is Jason, followed closely by Stephanie. Tim and Bruce have the more newscaster "accent-less" American English, but the Gotham will come through when they're being more casual or stressed. Damian would have a textbook American accent, which is slowly picking up some Gotham inflections. Cass tends towards a mix of everyone else including Alfred's "proper" English. Barbara has a mild Gotham, which she can choose to tone up or down depending on who she's with. Dick is a big melting pot of his native/first languages and a Gotham accent.


	15. Facade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ready for some comic-book hand-wavy science?

Dr Mid-Nite pinged their comms once he'd finished his review. Tim and Kon met Batman and Dr Mid-Nite back at the med bay. McKnider had removed his cowl and cape and rolled up his sleeves.

Cyborg was already there, working with McKnider at one of the computer displays. As everyone gathered, McKnider removed a pair of headphones and set down the refreshable braille display bar.

"Thank you." McKnider was saying to Cyborg, "Oh, could you put those up on the monitor for everyone else?"

Cyborg hit a few keys and the large screen showed a few different scans next to each other.

"I've finished my initial review." McKnider told the room.

"What did you find out?" Bruce asked.

Dr. Mid-Nite sighed. He motioned for everyone to take a seat. Tim grabbed one of the wheeled chairs and moved it over next to the cot Kon sat down on. Tim took Kon's good hand in his.

McKnider cleared his throat. “Where to even begin… Alright. Cloning. Medicine and science. There is a code of ethics for cloning and other experimentation on living beings. I’m sure it's not a surprise to anyone here, but what Cadmus did was wildly unethical. After reviewing the DNA sequencing of our three subjects, I can hazard a few guesses at what Cadmus was doing and what they were working with.”

“As far as Match goes- I would call their DNA structure incomplete. They are lacking certain key bits and pieces of DNA that Superman’s sequence has. And judging from the blood samples and brain scans, those missing pieces have at least something to do with the nervous system, specifically the brain and the balance of repairing and replacing brain cells at a healthy rate.” 

“Now, Cadmus was very advanced in their capabilities. Superboy, you are living proof of that,” McKnider nodded in the general direction of Kon, “Which only makes it more of an ethics violation that Match exists.”

“What do you mean by that?” Bruce asked

McKnider sighed, “I can’t say for certain, but- I am assuming Cadmus had the ability to monitor Match’s DNA sequencing at all the stages of their development. And when they were, say, a zygote- it would have been apparent enough at that stage of development that Match’s brain would not develop correctly. When I say correctly, I mean that they had no way to know if Match would ever have higher brain functions at all, let alone a working nervous system. The fact that Match is even alive shows that Cadmus took an incredibly unethical risk.”

“So how  _ is  _ Match alive? And talking and- they obviously have higher brain function.” Tim said.

McKnider sighed again and pointed in the direction of the monitor, “Here’s where we get beyond my actual medical knowledge and into the realm of speculation. I believe that Match’s Kryptonian healing factor is compensating for their genetic pitfalls. Their system is in a constant start of rapid repair to make up for the lack of intrinsic regeneration. I’m guessing that this is why their brain doesn’t map like Superman’s and Superboy’s. When you compare the areas that lit up under different stimuli, Superman and Superboy’s brains show very similar patterns, and those patterns loosely line up with what would show in an average human’s brain."

"But looking at Match’s, the patterns don’t come anywhere close.  _ And-  _ one of the tests showed vastly different results just a few minutes apart. Leading me to believe that Match’s brain is also constantly re-mapping itself.” 

Kon looked at the scans on the screens.

“So what does that all mean for Match?” Kon asked.

McKnider rubbed a hand over his mouth and scratched at his chin. He shook his head slightly.

“The question comes back to ethics.” Dr Mid-Nite said gravely. “Match is here now, Match is alive, Match is sentient and sapient. From a medical ethical standpoint, we should do what we can to improve Match’s quality of life and look into any possible treatment to alleviate the toll of their compromised DNA. We can’t keep them under those red sun lamps. Suppressing their Kryptonian healing factor will lead to degrading brain function and, most likely, death.”

Kon’s eyes went wide. 

“We also can’t just leave Match unchecked,” Tim spoke up. “They nearly killed Kon already. We need a way to protect people from Match at the same time that we’re protecting Match.”

"We're  _ not _ protecting them right now, we're killing them." Kon stood up.

"Kon-" Tim began.

"We need to go turn off the lights-"

"Hold on a second, we don't have a plan b in place yet."

"So they just have to sit quietly in the little death-box we made for them while we chat about what to do next?"

"They're not going to- Dr Mid-Nite, would staying under the lights another twenty minutes make any substantial difference for Match?" Tim asked.

McKnider shrugged, "I honestly couldn't say."

Kon stomped past Tim and out of the med bay. Tim caught up to him around the next corner.

"Hey-"

"We're turning off the lights." Kon said, his tone final.

"Okay. But  _ you _ shouldn't be the one to do it."

"You weren't going to."

"I literally just asked Dr Mid-Nite for clarification." Tim said sternly. "I don't want Match to suffer either. But you are injured and Match could-"

"Match could what?" Kon stopped and turned around. "Could break more of my bones? Could strangle me again? You think I don't know that?"

"You're not acting like it." Tim gestured at him. "Let's make sure Starfire is down there, and let's put all the Titans on alert. You don't have to be the person in the room, you  _ shouldn't _ be. You keep interjecting yourself into this situation without any regard to your health-"

"Match isn't a  _ situation! _ " Kon shouted. "This isn't a team mission that you can just re-assign me off of. Match is a person. Just because they're some failed experiment doesn't mean we can start treating them like a- like a specimen."

"I'm not saying they're not a person." Tim said simply. "No one's saying that."

Kon inhaled sharply and clenched his jaw.

"We need to turn off the lights."

"We do. We also need to keep everyone safe." Tim replied.

"Everyone includes Match."

"It does." Tim agreed. "It includes you, too."


End file.
